The present invention generally relates to manipulation of cutting patterns and the visual representation thereof, and more particularly, to manipulation of cutting patterns of protective films for application to three-dimensional objects.
Protective films are used for a variety of applications to protect the surface of objects from scratches, nicks, and degradation due to exposure to the environment. One example of a protective film application is the plastic overlay used to protect consumer electronic device screens. Another example of protective films used to protect fragile surfaces include certain vehicle surfaces, which are prone to damage due to flying pebbles, rocks, sand, and exposure to the environment, such as, for example, the front hood, the front fenders, and the headlights. Protective films include window tint patterns applied to vehicle windows and windshields. The need for protective films for vehicles is exacerbated by stricter environmental standards that while motivating more environmentally-friendly paints, have resulted in paints and coatings that are less robust and enduring. Accordingly, protective films are often used as an additional layer of protection to preserve the paints and coatings on certain surfaces of vehicles. Common types of protective films, include, but are not limited to, flexible urethane films and PVC films.
As one example of how protective films may be used to protect certain vehicle surfaces, a vehicle owner might apply one protective film to the right fender of the vehicle, another protective film to the left fender of the vehicle, and another protective film to the front hood portion of the vehicle. Each piece of protective film must be custom-sized to conform the protective film to the dimensions of the vehicle.
Because of the great variety of vehicle shapes and dimensions, protective films for consumers are often provided in custom-shapes on an on-demand basis by service providers. That is, a particular consumer will request a set of protective films for parts of a vehicle. The service provider will then cut a set of pieces of protective film from a fixed sheet or roll of protective film to produce the custom-sized pieces (or geometric shapes) of protective film. The service provider often uses a cutter or plotter to cut the custom-sized protective film pieces with the use of a cutting pattern.
Generally, the geometric pieces of protective film are of numerous shapes and sizes. Because of the high cost of protective film, it is desirable to maximize the use of costly raw materials (i.e. to minimize waste of the protective film). Often, the raw material is in the form of a sheet that is bigger than the dimensions of individual parts needed to be cut from it, whether they are different parts or a number of parts of the same type. Therefore, it is desirable to “squeeze in” the geometric shapes in a cutting pattern as close as possible so as to minimize waste of the protective film. This “squeezed in” configuration of the geometric shapes is referred to herein as a “nested configuration.” The problem of laying out parts on the stock sheet to minimize scrap losses is known as the cutting stock problem. The cutting stock problem is common across a number of industries, such as the sheet metal, lumber, glass, leather, textile, and paper industries. One solution to the problem has been to develop algorithms for nesting irregularly shaped parts. In particular, the leather and apparel industries deal with irregularly shaped parts as well as irregularly shaped sheets (such as raw leather). The data for a stock cutting problem usually comprise the following types of information: dimensions of the sheet or film from which geometric shapes are to be cut, pattern data representing the shape and size of each geometric shape, and a set of placement constraints (e.g. that the geometric shapes may not overlap with one another and must lie entirely on the sheet within which they are placed, etc), and an objective (e.g. an optimal or near-optimal use of the protective film that minimizes waste).
Frequently, in a nested configuration, the geometric shapes to be cut are rotated and arranged in the cutting pattern in such a way that, although minimizing unused portions of the protective film, the result is an arrangement that is difficult for the service provider to ascertain how the pieces should be installed. In other words, because of the optimized arrangement of the geometric shapes in the nested configuration, it is no longer obvious how the numerous pieces relate to one another and to the vehicle surface on which they are to be installed. Thus, there is a need for a system that conveys how to translate the pieces from the nested configuration into the proper arrangement of pieces for installation on a vehicle.
Typically, an initial cutting pattern is selected from a library of cutting patterns that correspond to each vehicle make and model. Thus, knowing the make and model of a vehicle, a service provider can select the appropriate custom-designed cutting pattern from a library of cutting patterns thereby allowing the service provider to cut the correctly-sized pieces of protective film.
Additionally, consumers often desire to modify the shapes and sizes of the pieces of protective film according to their personal preferences. Conventional methods of modifying cutting patterns involve a designer painstakingly modifying a cutting pattern by manual methods to achieve the consumer-desired modification. One complication with such a system, however, would be the ongoing requirement for updates arising from the constant production of new models of vehicles thus requiring new cutting patterns to be developed. Thus, an automated method of modifying cutting patterns would be desirable to minimize the time and cost of modifying cutting patterns.
Examples of consumer modifications to cutting patterns include trailing line manipulations, entity cut-down operations, and wrap extension modification operations, among others. Briefly, trailing line manipulations involve applying a curve to one or more geometric shapes having a straight line. Consumers sometimes opt for this modification, because straight-lines can be considered unsightly in some applications, and because a straight line contrasts sharply and visibly with the front of most vehicle designs, which typically have some curve to them. Since the paint protection film is designed to be nearly invisible, some consumers would prefer a curve or arc that is more in keeping with the design of the vehicle. Accordingly, cutting patterns often need to be modified to incorporate this design preference. Because trailing lines are often shared across multiple geometric shapes, modifying a trailing line is difficult manually in part because the curvature of the trailing line modification must be consistent across one or more geometric shapes. To overcome this painstakingly difficult manual operation, some service providers provide consumers with a selection of predetermined cutting patterns, but this selection limits the consumer's range of choices and generating the multiple pre-determined cutting patterns manually can be tedious and time-consuming.
Entity cut-down operations involve the adaptation of one cutting pattern to a cutting pattern of a different dimensions. Cutting patterns are usually designed for rolls of protective films having a particular fixed width. Occasionally, a service provider may wish to adapt the cutting patterns to function with a sheet of protective film of different dimensions or to a roll of protective film having a different width. This modification of cutting patterns to allow the cutting pattern to be cut from a protective film of a different dimension is referred to herein as an entity cut-down operation.
Wrap extension modification operations refer to the extension of a portion of a piece of protective film to be longer than the original designed length. Traditional cutting pattern designs approach the edge of a surface to be protected to within about 1/16″ or 1/32″ of the edge, leaving a small remaining section vulnerable to damage. Some consumers prefer cutting patterns that allow the protective film to wrap around the edge of a protected component for complete coverage and in some cases, to avoid the protective film terminating near the edge. This is particularly true in hood applications, which would potentially result in an unsightly straight line instead of a smooth transition. Consumers who prefer patterns that wrap around the edge of a protected surface typically need to have a designer create a pattern one using manual or other highly inefficient methods.
Thus, numerous motivations exist for changing cutting patterns for protective film. The manual method of painstakingly modifying the cutting pattern is unsatisfactory. Therefore, an automated efficient method of modifying cutting patterns is desired. Additionally, an automated method for displaying the corresponding modified cutting patterns in their nested and installed configuration is desired.